Somewhat off-putting...
...and make people with a lot of religious values want to throw the book across the room.
but you've sold me! :-) Actually I think I'll stick to books that make a point, good, bad, or ugly. It's been a long time since I've read fantasy -- I was big into D&D in high school when I read my first fantasy novel (The Sword of Shannara, a Tolkien rip-off) -- and I've only recently re-read LOTR because of the movie. Where does one go after Tolkien? Any suggestions?
When I was a kid, then a teenager, I loved reading fantasy/sci-fi, mostly fantasy. I read the Thomas Covenant series back then. After I became a Christian I picked it up again, and nearly threw it across the room ;^). I despise Harry Potter and I love Tolkien.
My daughter asked me one night “Dad, why is Harry Potter bad but LOTR good?” I wasn’t quite prepared for that question. I told her that in the Harry Potter series that magic was glorified, and that good and bad were intermingled. Whereas in LOTR good is good, evil is evil, magic is not glorified, more often than not it corrupts those who attempt to wield it.
She then asked “What about Gandalf? He’s a wizard.” I told her that even though he had the title of “Wizard” in the book he was actually an angelic like being that was sent by the one “God” to help protect Middle-Earth.
Anyway, I don’t know why I went into all that, but there it is.
Do you have any good book suggestions for someone of the [fundamental] Christian persuasion? What do you think of Lawhead?
Thanks.
-ksen